The Silvretta Alps are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

of the

Central Eastern Alps The Central Eastern Alps (german: Zentralalpen or Zentrale Ostalpen), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps (german: Österreichische Zentralalpen) or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent ...

shared by

Tirol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

(both in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) and Graubünden (

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

). The Austrian states of Tirol and Vorarlberg are connected by a pass road (

Silvretta Hochalpenstraße The Silvretta Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps shared by Tyrol (state), Tirol, Vorarlberg (both in Austria) and Graubünden (Switzerland). The Austrian States of Austria, states of Tirol and Vorarlberg are connected by a pa ...

at 2032 m). The majority of the peaks are elevated above three thousand metres and are surrounded by

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

s. Thus, the area is also known as the "Blue Silvretta".

Borders

According to the

Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of which ...

s, the Silvretta Alps are outlined from other groups by the following borders:

St. Gallenkirch ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

- Ill river as far as

Partenen Gemeinde Gaschurn-Partenen is a municipality in the district of Bludenz in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The two largest villages are Gaschurn Dorf (population 1083 as of 1.1.2020) and Partenen (population 376 as of 1.1.2020). Geo ...

- Zeinisjoch - Zeinisbach - Paznauntal as far as

Ischgl Ischgl () is a town in the Paznaun valley in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Its ski resort is connected with that of Samnaun across the border in Switzerland to form one of the largest in the Alps. Ischgl was a major hotspot of the COVID-19 pandemi ...

Fimbertal The Fimbatal, also Fimbertal, ( rm, Val Fenga) is an alpine valley situated between the Silvretta Alps and the Samnaun Alps. The valley is drained by the Fimbabach river (''Aua da Fenga''), a tributary of the Inn basin (Trisanna) at Ischgl. The h ...

Fimber Pass Fimber is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north-west of Driffield town centre and south-west of the village of Sledmere. It lies on the B1248 road. The civil parish is formed b ...

Val Chöglias Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a So ...

Val Sinestra The Val Sinestra ( Romansh lit.: "left valley") is a valley of the Swiss Alps, located in the Engadin between the Silvretta and the Samnaun ranges. The valley is drained by ''La Brancla'', a tributary of the Inn basin, near Ramosch. The highes ...

Inn River , image = UnterinntalWest.JPG , image_caption = Lower Inn valley from Rattenberg castle , source1_location = Swiss Alps (Lägh dal Lunghin) , source1_elevation = , source1_coordinates= , mouth_location = Danube (Passau) , mo ...

from the mouth of the Branclabach to the mouth of the Susasca -

Val Susasca Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a So ...

- Flüela Pass -

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...

- Wolfgang - Laretbach -

Klosters Klosters is a Swiss village in the Prättigau, politically part of the municipality of Klosters-Serneus, which belongs to the political district Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden. In 2021, the municipality shortened its name to Kl ...

- Schlappinbach - Schlappiner Joch - Valzifensbach - Gargellental -

. The Silvretta Alps are surrounded by the

Rätikon The Rätikon is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, located at the border between Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein and Graubünden. It is the geological border between the Eastern and Western Alps and stretches from the Montafon as far as t ...

, Verwall,

Samnaun Samnaun ( rm, Samignun) is a high Alpine village and a valley at the eastern end of Switzerland and a municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History The valley was first used as a seasonal m ...

, Sesvenna, Albula and Plessur ranges. The Piz Buin is not the highest, but the most popular peak of the range. It can relatively easily be ascended from north or south through glaciers and stretches of easy climbing. The Silvretta is famous for its skiing especially its many

backcountry skiing Backcountry skiing ( US), also called off-piste (Europe), alpine touring, or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resort's boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing, which i ...

possibilities. In the 1920s

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

was staying in the region for a winter (he lived at

Schruns Schruns is a municipality in the Montafon valley (altitude 690 meters), in the Bludenz district of the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. To the west is the famous Zimba mountain, often called the "Vorarlberger Matterhorn," which is very ...

Montafon Montafon ( in local dialect: "''Muntafu''") is a 39 km long valley in the westernmost Austrian federal state of Vorarlberg. It is traversed by the river Ill (Vorarlberg) and extends from the city of Bludenz and the Verwall Alps in the nort ...

). Later, he wrote a couple of short stories about his skiing experiences in the Silvretta. Some of these short stories are to be found in ''A moveable feast''.

Adjacent valleys

* Paznaun *

Engadin The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ' ...

Peaks

Mountain huts

* Berghaus-Verein, private * Bodenalpenhaus, private * Chamanna Dal Linard, Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) * Fergen Hut, SAC *

Heidelberger Hut The Heidelberger Hut (German: ''Heidelberger Hütte'') is a mountain hut located in the Silvretta in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It lies at an altitude of 2,264 metres above sea level in the Val Fenga. The hut was built between 1887 and 1 ...

, German Alpine Club (DAV), Heidelberg Section * Jamtal Hut DAV, Schwaben Section * Klostertaler Umwelt Hut, DAV * Madlenerhaus, DAV Wiesbaden Section * Saarbrücken Hut, DAV, Alpenverein u. Skiclub Silvretta * Seetal Hut, SAC * Silvretta Hut, SAC * Tuoi Hut, SAC * Tübingen Hut, DAV, Tübingen Section * Wiesbaden Hut, DAV Wiesbaden Section

Ski areas in the Silvretta Alps

* Silvretta Montafon –

, Austria – largest ski area offering 113 km of slopes * Silvretta Bielerhöhe – Partenen –

, Austria * Gargellen –

, Austria *

Galtür Galtür is a village and ski resort in the upper Paznaun valley in Austrian state of Tyrol located in the Central Eastern Alps 35 km southwest of Landeck near the border of Vorarlberg and Switzerland. History Galtür was settled by th ...

– Silvapark –

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, Austria *

Scuol Scuol () is a municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons. The official language in Scuol is Romansh. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Ardez, Guarda, Tarasp, Ftan and Sent merged into S ...

(Motta Naluns) – Graubünden, Switzerland *

Parsenn Parsenn is a ski area near Davos, Switzerland, offering 35 ski runs. The Parsenn area is the largest and most modern of Davos' five mountains. The recently updated Parsenn "red railway" funicular covers the difference of up to the Weissfluh ...

(Davos Klosters) – Graubünden, Switzerland – highest ski area which extends up to an altitude of 2,844m *

Madrisa The Madrisa (or ''Madrisahorn'') is a mountain in the Rätikon mountain range, overlooking Klosters in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Its summit (2,826 metres) is located near the Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the ...

(Davos Klosters) – Graubünden, Switzerland * Pischa (Davos Klosters) – Graubünden, Switzerland * Selfranga – Klosters – Graubünden, Switzerland *

Ardez Ardez () is a former municipality in the district of Inn in the canton of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland. The village is located in the Lower Engadin valley. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Ardez, Guarda, Tarasp, Ftan and S ...

– Graubünden, Switzerland * Guarda – Graubünden, Switzerland

References